Disclaimer: No relation to Gundam Wing. No own Gundam Wing. No relation to anything Gundam. No own anything Gundam. No making profit from this. All of the above is very obvious, otherwise why would I be writing this? Disclaimers are a pain to write.

Pairings: 1x2, 3x4, 5xS, past 5xM (she's dead)

Summary: Gangs rule the Outlands, and shoot any OZ soldiers that enter their turf. The solution? Use ex-gangers, now OZ prisoners, to infiltrate them. What OZ doesn't know is that these five prisoners have something else in mind…

Fighting Fire with Fire

Chapter Four: Revelations

Heero and Duo were the first in the kitchen, having finished their morning run by seven thirty and bathed by seven forty-five. They had begun to boil hot water in a kettle for coffee and tea when Trowa and Quatre, who'd woken up later and took slightly longer to run, came in from their own baths.

"He's like clockwork, that one," Quatre commented, glancing out of the window as he wandered over to the kettle. "Out of bed at six fifty-five, doing his katas at seven, finishing at eight on the dot."

"Rest of the Juvvies used to wonder if he was a mod, remember?" Duo snickered, leaning against the counter as he, too, peered out the window to watch Wufei. His long hair wasn't braided, as it was still damp, and he was careful to keep away from the fire. "Then again they wondered the same about the rest of us. Never believed when we said no. You'd think we'd notice if people poked around our genes and modified them. You'd think they'd trust our word about that sort of thing."

Trowa snorted softly.

"Hey, at least my word's trustworthy!" Duo huffed. "I run, I hide –"

"– but I never lie," the other three boys chorused.

"Sure, make fun of the honest man."

The kettle whistled, and Quatre shut the fire off. Nodding in thanks as Duo passed him five cups, he filled them with hot water – three of them slightly less full than the other two – and brought three to the table while Duo took the rest. The fuller ones he kept, while the others took the less full ones.

Heero had collected the tea bags and instant coffee packets, and Trowa the spoons to stir with – Quatre took the two tea packets and unwrapped them, letting them soak in the hot water, while the others tore open their coffee packets and added it to the water. With the powder, the liquid was now at the same height as Quatre's tea. They stirred, Quatre placing the extra cup of tea in front of an empty chair, and then they sat back to let it cool.

Duo had brought his brush down, and he handed it – and his hair tie – to Heero in a silent question. Heero's answer was to gesture Duo to turn slightly so that his back was to Heero, and then he began brushing out the long mass of hair starting from the bottom up.

The sunlight from the window lay in a vague trapezium on the floor, one corner draped over Duo's cloth-clad knee and catching on Heero's elbow every now and then. The air was crisp and cool, the earth still not yet fully heated by the sun. It was quiet, with only the rustling of grass and the call of birds to add to the peace; the sounds and bustle of the city did not reach so far. Sitting there Duo could almost imagine he was in Utopia, or maybe even heaven. With clouds all around and blue sky overhead, and an angel brushing his hair with long deep strokes that made him want to purr, or at least weep with the way Heero was so careful and gentle and not at all like the killers they all were. He closed his eyes to stop the tears.

Quatre's soft smile faltered as he turned away from watching Duo and Heero; he knew exactly how Duo was feeling. "It's been a long time since I've enjoyed air this fresh," he said quietly, watching the sky outside through the window instead. "A morning this quiet, a feeling so peaceful. The last time I sat like this was when I was five, at home, with my sisters. With my father, before… before. I'd woken up early, and went out to the garden. It rained the night before, so the sky was this unreal blue, the air just beginning to warm, the smell of crisp fresh earth so strong. My family joined me one by one, in silence, and we sat and watched the sun rise over the trees." His breath caught, then, and he lowered his eyes. "My heart… aches, to remember."

Trowa shifted his chair silently, settling next to Quatre. He wrapped an arm around the blond, who rested his head on the offered shoulder.

Wufei, freshly showered, entered the kitchen quietly, padding over to sit in the empty chair with the cup of tea in front of it. "So does mine, Quatre," he said softly, staring pensively into his cup. "I remember every morning we had tea before breakfast, in the garden, around a wooden table with the stream running past. We never spoke, but sat there sipping our tea and listening, watching, breathing. Silent observers as the world awoke. I remember, and there's that feeling of… of home. Of being held without actually being held. Of being…" he trailed off.

"Loved?"

He allowed himself a small smirk. "I was about to say 'whole', but I guess your romanticized 'loved' will do, Duo."

Heero did the last few inches of braid, and deftly tied it off. "Done," he said, turning back to the table. Taking a sip of his coffee, he added, "Coffee's cooled down just enough, too."

They all moved their chairs back to face the table and indulged in their drinks. Finally Heero finished the last bit of his coffee and set the cup down. "It's eight fifteen," he said. "You know what we put off yesterday. We need to talk about it now."

Duo sighed, but Wufei nodded. Trowa shrugged and Quatre just made a small face. They all finished their drinks, and then fixed Heero with expectant looks.

He raised an eyebrow at them. "Why am I first?"

"Because you are," Duo and Quatre said in unison, and grinned at each other.

But Heero didn't see the humour. He went still, eyes widening with realization, and then said sharply, "02!"

Duo immediately snapped to attention. "Yes sir!" he said automatically.

There was absolute silence in the small kitchen as four pairs of eyes widened simultaneously. Then Quatre ventured, "04."

"03," Trowa murmured.

Wufei frowned. "05."

Heero nodded. "01. The question is how."

"That brings us back to the original topic we're supposed to be discussing now. I daresay it's become all the more important, after that" Quatre said thoughtfully. "Heero?"

"Hn. My code, 01, was given by J. He was a scientist, for lack of a better word, and my mentor. He found me after my… my foster father Odin, an assassin who trained me when I was a child, was killed." He paused, but Duo's hand slipping into his gave him courage to continue. "J told me he could provide me the means to avenge Odin, so I agreed to let him train me. He put me in Zen – he had some connection with them. Connection unknown. He trained me during my time in the gang until I was caught during a botched escape attempt, in which all other Zen members were killed. It was the same gang that killed Odin and my Zen brothers, and I have sworn revenge. Therefore my purpose this time in the Outlands is to kill this gang, the Jesters."

"Jesters!" Wufei, Duo and Trowa hissed at the same time. They looked at each other in surprise.

"Duo," Quatre interjected. "Your turn."

"Ah, right. Okay, I'm 02 because of G. Scientist guy too, really weird hair. Jesters burnt my home down when I was a kid, then G picked me up and told me the same thing – he could train me to get revenge. So I went with him, trained a bit, sneaked out one day and in the few days before he found me I joined Hell's Demons. G let me stay in the gang, surprisingly, on the condition that I devote myself to training with him at the same time. Blah blah, so we were trying to save this kid that the Jesters took into their hold, but they caught us because some asshole of a traitor ratted us out." The pain in his eyes was palpable, and Heero briefly tightened his grip on Duo's hand, which hadn't let go of his. "They all died, the Demons. I was caught by state just as ol' Solo – our boss-bro – died. So yeah, same as Heero – I'm in this to kill the Jesters."

They looked to Trowa. He looked mildly back. "I grew up in a mercenary base – S taught me along with the standard mercenary training. He gave me my code. Mercenaries left me at the scene of some crime. I was caught and blamed. In juvvie I heard that a lot of them ended up joining gangs, mainly Jester. I'm after those mercenaries."

"Jesters!" Wufei burst out, unable to hold it in anymore. "Scientist mentors with a single letter name, codes in ascending order of numbers – this is too much of a coincidence. I myself – " He hesitated, glancing towards Quatre.

The blond shrugged. "Go ahead."

Wufei nodded and took a few meditating breaths, his expression smoothening, a blank calm settling over him. It was the only way he could state the facts without being too affected by the memories. "I have failed grievously twice before. I was a coward the first time; I hid in fear as my first family fought and were killed, and I ran away after that. O found me, and with the promise of revenge became my teacher. He brought me here, where I found another family, the Dragons. I was trained by O during my time with them. The gang was later killed by Jesters, and even though I managed to return the favour for some of them, the rest still owe me a blood debt. It is one of the few ways I can redeem myself."

"This is suspicious," mused Duo.

"Yes," Heero agreed. "Such similar circumstances are questionable indeed."

"Quatre," Trowa murmured.

"Oh, right." Duo grinned at Quatre as they all turned expectantly to the blond. "Your turn. What's your marvelous tale of revenge gonna be?"

"Actually, I'm here for the ride, as Duo might put it."

They stared.

The blond smiled sheepishly. "Well – you guys were all volunteering, and it seemed like an interesting mission, and I was going stir-crazy inside juvvie. So I stepped out when you did, since you guys were the only interesting things there and I would have died of boredom without you all. I don't really have any personal reasons for going into the outlands…" He looked at the amused light in Trowa's eyes and Duo's hanging jaw and Heero and Wufei's indignant disbelief and quickly backpedaled. "Er, well, I suppose I would like to see my fellow Sands again?"

"You came because you were bored!" Duo exclaimed incredulously, jabbing his finger at Quatre empathetically and nearly taking his cup out for good.

"Well, if it helps." Quatre smiled a little half-smile that faded quickly. "My father was a good, kind man, but a few weeks before I killed him he became a tyrant to all his household and family. The last straw was when he somehow found out that I was a member of Sands. I'd kept it a secret; it wasn't that big of a deal, but I was slightly ashamed. Actually, before he changed, I think he'd have accepted it after some deliberation. But in that state, he almost killed me, and my sisters when they tried to stop him, and so in defense I killed him." He bowed his head. "I didn't mean to – but H's training just took over and before I knew it… I was horrified when I came to my senses. I think I threw up. And then… my sisters tried to stop me, but I insisted on turning myself in."

Of course, out of the entire speech, Heero had apparently heard only one word. One letter, even. "H?" he repeated.

"Yes, I too had a 'scientist guy', as Duo puts it. He trained me during my time in the Sands."

They fell into a contemplative silence, turning recent revelations over in their minds. Finally Duo said, "So we have five scientists who've trained us to be the best fighters and survivors anyone could hope to be."

"They trained us alongside gang life. They taught us to fight, but gang life taught us survival and honed our instincts," said Wufei. "Was that done on purpose then?"

"And is it a coincidence that the scientists found us at the exact moments when we needed their words most?" Quatre mused. "For me, H was the solution to my problem of not being able to protect myself. I'd found my first real friends in the Sands, and I needed to be able to fight to stay on in the gang. H came at just the right moment."

"S was the only one who treated me as a human being," Trowa said quietly. "At that time I was willing to do anything he asked me to."

"They approached us during moments when we would definitely accept their proposal to train us, having a driving reason to want to train hard and succeed at it. They're undeniably linked to each other; their names are too similar. We, too, are linked together – is that part of their plan? Of all the good fighters out there, we chose each other. The odds are stacked against such a coincidence. Did they do something to make it easier for us to identify and accept each other, albeit subconsciously?" Duo shook his head. "Damn, but the plots that come to mind are endless."

"Come to think of it – our familiarity with each other is unusual," Quatre admitted slowly. "None of us are the trusting sort, but that we accepted each other so easily… and we found nothing unusual about that, either."

"They did something." Heero spoke at last, and they turned to look at him. His lips were pressed together, and there was a cold anger in his eyes. "That means they deceived us, lied to us. They might even have something to do… with the circumstances we found ourselves in."

There was a stunned silence.

Then Quatre breathed, "My father… they did something to my father?"

"My family. My gang… Solo." Shinigami was simmering just beneath the surface as Duo shook his head slowly. "No."

"It is a possibility. It would have been too convenient for them, otherwise."

"Heero's right," Wufei said grimly.

Duo's lips drew back in a snarl. "If they're responsible…"

He did not need to finish his sentence; the looks on the others' faces completed it for him. Abruptly he stood, and stalked out of the kitchen.

"Duo?" Quatre called after him.

"If they're still alive, most likely they're in the Outlands." Duo's voice was cold as it floated back to kitchen. "The faster we cement this deal with OZ, the better the chance of finding them. Let's go."

They went.

Interesting things happen next chap as the boys meet with OZ once again – and get their weapons and stuff. -grins-

Been waiting long? Sorry!

Thanks to all the reviewers for the last chap – hope you liked this one. Though it was more to establish the sinister plots behind things, than to further the story.

Ashen Skies
"He closed his eyes to stop the tears."